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Intractable Epilepsies

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Principles and Practice of Stereotactic Radiosurgery

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Abstract

There are convincing arguments for investigating the potential role of radiosurgery in epilepsy surgery. We know that:

  • Radiosurgery (since its introduction in the 1950s) has been demonstrated to have advantages in terms of safety and efficacy, for the treatment of numerous small, deeply seated intracerebral lesions.

  • Radiosurgical treatment of small cortico-subcortical lesions associated with epilepsy has been demonstrated to lead to seizure cessation in a high percentage (58% to 80% in arteriovenous malformation) of cases, long before the expected treatment of the lesion and sometimes even in spite of failing to cure the lesion itself.

  • Radiotherapeutic treatment of intractable epilepsies with or without space-occupying lesions can lead to a reduction in seizure frequency and/or severity.

  • Experimental models of epilepsies treated with radiation therapy have demonstrated a dose-dependent positive effect of radiation on the frequency and severity of the seizures and on the extent of discharge propagation.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departement de Neurochirurgie Centre Hospitalier, Er Universitaire La Timone, Marseille, France

    Jean Régis (Professor)

  2. Service de Neurophysiologie Clinique, Université de la Méditerranée, Marseille, France

    Fabrice Bartolomei MD, PhD & Patrick Chauvel MD

Authors
  1. Jean Régis
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  2. Fabrice Bartolomei MD, PhD
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  3. Patrick Chauvel MD
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurosurgery, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA

    Lawrence S. Chin MD (Professor and Chairman) (Professor and Chairman)

  2. Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Maryland Medical School, Baltimore, MD, USA

    William F. Regine MD (Professor and Chairman) (Professor and Chairman)

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Régis, J., Bartolomei, F., Chauvel, P. (2008). Intractable Epilepsies. In: Chin, L.S., Regine, W.F. (eds) Principles and Practice of Stereotactic Radiosurgery. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-71070-9_59

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-71070-9_59

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